Taxonomic notes on Pleurothallis saueri (Luer) J.M.S. Shaw

Pleurothallis saueri was originally described as Lindleyalis saueri Luer in Luer & Thoerle (2012: 355) from a wild specimen from Ecuador but without a known locality, which was imported by Tropical Orchid Farm and grown by E. Sauer in the United States (Luer & Thoerle (2012). It is now confirmed that this species grows in Zamora Chinchipe Province, southeast Ecuador, in the same location of P. lapoi (Figure 3). A specimen of P. saueri was found, photographed, and collected without flowers in the confirmed locality in November 2020, it was grown at the Orquideario La Paphinia, where it bloomed 18 months later (Figure 14).

6. Pleurothallis saueri (Luer) J.M.S. Shaw (2016: 39) .

Basionym: Lindleyalis saueri Luer (2012: 355) .

Type: — ECUADOR. Without collection data, obtained from Tropical Orchid Farm in Hawaii, flowered in cultivation in Centerville, OH, December 2011, E. Sauer s.n. (holotype: MO, not found, lectotype here designated), C. Luer illustr. 21701, in Harvard Papers in Botany 17: 333–368. 2012. (Fig. 13). Epitype (designated here):— ECUADOR. Zamora Chinchipe: cerca de El Pangui, 1560 m, 17 January 2022, L. Vélez-Abarca, LV 0073 (ECUAMZ!) (Figure 14) .

While searching for the original material of the species, the type material was sought at Missouri Botanical Garden (MO) to verify if the specimen is deposited there. It was known that the holotype of Pleurothallis saueri is not found at the herbarium, therefore, based on the original illustration a lectotype is selected here.